Legal Disrepair Officer

The Role

Southwark Repairs is a customer focused service and we are working on our Improvement Plan to become a fit for the future service that put residents at its heart. This is an exciting opportunity to work in the Legal Disrepair Team managing a portfolio of legal disrepair cases, arbitration matters and assisting in preventing new claims by taking early intervention to properties at risk of litigation.

About Southwark:
Southwark is a large, ambitious, and progressive council with a ‘can do’ attitude and enviable reputation. As a Council, we are successful, passionate and forward-thinking. We are committed to our ‘Fairer Futures for All’ promise which ensures that our residents and businesses are central to everything we do. If you want to make a difference at a local level, apply to Southwark Council today.

About you:
You will be working in a high pressured environment and will need excellent organisational skills as well as a dynamic attitude to managing your cases.
You will need to prepare detailed formal reports which will be used at arbitration hearings and lead on mitigating the Council’s liability whilst delivering an excellent repairs service by robustly managing contractors.
In addition, you will be working closely alongside solicitors in legal services to determine whether the Council is in breach of the Tenancy Agreement and give evidence in court where matters are in dispute.

About Southwark

We are the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises and we have a young, diverse and growing population.
At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.

Benefits and more information:

In your role, we want you to feel supported, challenged and rewarded. You will benefit from our family-friendly policies including flexible working, home working, and a local government pension scheme, plus many other staff benefits. You will join a motivated, driven and supportive team that strives for excellence and values its members. You will also be part of a successful and high-achieving development team that is making a real difference to the lives of residents in the borough. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Staff Benefits page.

Recruitment Timetable

Advert Closing date: 06/07/2025

Interview date: 17/07/2025

Guaranteed Interview Scheme:

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Attachments

• Click to view the Job description and Person specification